How to Use Insurance Coverage You Already Have

You can make your insurance policies really work for you by taking advantage of the insurance coverage those policies offer that you may not even know about — and, in the process, avoid paying for unnecessary coverage.

Trailers: If you own an expensive camping trailer, you can insure it best and most economically by adding the trailer to your car insurance policy.

Because car insurance covers only the trailer, add Special Perils contents coverage to your homeowner’s policy to get better coverage for the belongings in your trailer in case of damage from a collision or overturn.

Instrument rentals: Parents commonly rent instruments instead of buying them, especially for the child’s first instrument. The rental agency requires you to insure the rental. You can insure that rented guitar under your homeowner’s policy for $4 to $8 a year (as opposed to the rental agency’s insurance, which can run almost $100 a year).

Be sure to include the rental agency as Loss Payee on the schedule so its interest is properly covered.

Valuables: If you have any kind of property that’s quite valuable and could be stolen, such as jewelry or fine paintings, install a central burglar-and-fire alarm. Installation costs are often $200 or less. The monthly cost to monitor the alarm is about $20. You reduce the risk of losing an irreplaceable treasure, and you receive 10 to 20 percent off your homeowner’s rates.